Tartuffe E-Book

Moliere

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Serie: NHB Drama Classics
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 111

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Moliere's comic masterpiece about an irreclaimable hypocrite - one of the most famous French plays of all time. The pious Tartuffe is lodging with Orgon and his family, ingratiating himself with both his host and his host's mother to such a degree that both are blinded to his true – rather less virtuous – designs. Like marrying Orgon's daughter Mariane, whilst seducing his wife, Elmire. This English version of Tartuffe, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series, is translated and introduced by Martin Sorrell.

Leseprobe

DRAMA CLASSICS

TARTUFFE

byMolière

translated and introduced by

Martin Sorrell

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Title Page

Introduction

For Further Reading

Molière: Key Dates

Characters

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Introduction

Molière (1622-1673)

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (later known as Molière) was baptised in the St-Eustache church, Paris, on 15 January 1622, but the precise date of his birth is not known. Both his parents were in the upholstery business, enjoying considerable success and wealth. Between 1633-1639 Molière was educated at the Jesuit Collège de Clermont, now the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. In 1642, he was a law student in Orléans, and in the following year he renounced his succession to his father as tapissier du Roi (upholsterer-royal), preferring instead to join the newly-formed Illustre Théâtre company in Paris. In 1644, he adopted the name Molière, and this marks the beginning of his illustrious career as actor-manager-playwright. His first full-length play, The Scatterbrain, was put on in 1655.

The company at first toured the provinces, then returned to Paris in 1658 and shared the Petit-Bourbon theatre with the Italian commedia dell’arte players. Molière also received the patronage of the King’s brother, Philippe d’Orléans. 1659 saw the great success of The Pretentious Ladies. In 1661, the company was forced to move to a different theatre, the Palais-Royal. In 1662, Molière married Armande Béjart, then aged around 20. She was either the daughter or the sister of Madeleine Béjart, with whom Molière had set up the Illustre Théâtre some twenty years before. Molière’s acutely pertinent and highly successful The School for Wives was given its premiere in 1662. The next year, he was granted a royal pension of 1,000 livres, and in February 1664 the King himself acted as godfather to his first child, Louis. In May of the same year, the first version of Tartuffe was given privately before the King, but was immediately banned for public performance.

In 1665, Molière’s company became the Troupe du Roi, and his annual royal pension was raised to 6,000 livres. In the early part of 1666, Molière became seriously ill with pneumonia and had to give up acting for many months. The summer of that year saw The Misanthrope and Doctor in Spite of Himself. Then, in 1667, Tartuffe, renamed The Impostor, was given a public performance. 1668 saw first productions of Amphytrion, George Dandin, The Miser, 1669 Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, 1670 The Would-be Gentleman, 1671 Scapin’s Tricks, 1672 The Bluestockings. Molière’s last play, The Hypochondriac, opened on 10 February 1673, but, by its fourth performance, on 17 February, Molière’s illness, probably tuberculosis, had become critical. He was performing the title role of Argan, the hypochondriac, and by all accounts doing so with great energy and gusto. Then, near the end of the performance, in the third interlude, he was taken violently and suddenly ill, but he managed to struggle through to the end of the performance. He was rushed back to his house in the rue de Richelieu, where he died shortly after. He was buried on the 21st, in the St-Joseph cemetery, during the night – the penalty for not having made, in the presence of a priest, a death-bed denunciation of his actor’s life.

Tartuffe: What Happens in the Play

Orgon, a rich bourgeois living in Paris, has taken into the family home a certain Monsieur Tartuffe, a down-and-out he had encountered at church, and who manifested all the signs of deep religious piety. Act 1 opens with a raging quarrel between various members of the household, one of whom – Madame Pernelle, Orgon’s mother – is for Tartuffe, the remainder against him, as they consider him an impostor. Through the servant Dorine, we learn that Orgon, who had served the King with valour and distinction in the recent civil strife (known as La Fronde), has become obsessed, under the influence of Tartuffe, with religion and the virtues of the pious life. When Orgon makes his first appearance, having been away a couple of days, his only concern is to find out how Tartuffe has been. Orgon learns that Tartuffe is in excellent health, eats and drinks heartily, and sleeps heavily. On the other hand, Orgon’s wife Elmire has been quite ill, but that detail is of no concern to Orgon. Cléante, Orgon’s brother-in-law then tries to reason with him in a scene which lays out the deep divide of the times between religion and libertinage (free thinking, open-mindedness, often interpreted by its opponents as irreligion and atheism). Cléante is wasting his breath, however. Orgon is locked into his vision of Tartuffe as saintliness personified. He cannot see how ridiculous he appears, nor the frustration and distress he is causing within his family.

Act 2 opens with an interview between Orgon and Mariane, his daughter of marriageable age. He plans for her to wed Tartuffe. Not only is this prospect intrinsically awful, but Mariane is in love with a young man called Valère. Dorine then has a go at Orgon, not mincing her words, but this produces only rage and stubbornness in her master. Dorine then assures the over-submissive Mariane that she will act on her behalf to thwart Orgon’s designs. Valère arrives, and instead of agreeing a plan of action, the two lovers launch into a pointless argument, resolved only by Dorine’s exasperated intervention. After that, there is agreement that everything must be done to ensure that Mariane and Valère do indeed marry each other.

Act 3. Elmire has asked for a meeting with Tartuffe, in order to plead the cause of the young lovers. It seems that she is the only person in the family to exert any influence over Tartuffe. Orgon’s impetuous young son Damis insists, against wiser counsels, that he should listen in secret to the meeting. Tartuffe makes his first entrance. On seeing Dorine, he slips into the character of the religious ascetic, and requests that she cover her provocative cleavage. After Dorine’s choice words of reply, Tartuffe and Elmire begin their conversation. But it takes an awkward turn, for Tartuffe quickly steers it to his own obsession, the physical charms of Elmire, and how to find a discreet way of satisfying his desire for her. At this delicate moment, Damis bursts in, having heard everything, and declares that he will unmask the treacherous impostor. Orgon then arrives, Damis blurts out the whole story, and Tartuffe, challenged by an incredulous Orgon, plays a brilliant psychological card by beating his breast and agreeing wholeheartedly with Damis’s accusations, even adding that he, Tartuffe, is more evil than anyone knows. This skilfully contrived statement of the naked truth produces the desired effect – Orgon turns not on Tartuffe but on his son, cursing him before sending him packing. Then he comforts Tartuffe, who deftly returns to the subject of Elmire. Orgon’s prompt response is that, far from avoiding her, Tartuffe henceforth must spend as much time as possible in her company. His final, mad decision is to disinherit his son, and make his whole estate over to Tartuffe.

By the opening of Act 4, Orgon has become totally despotic. Cléante confronts Tartuffe in an attempt to persuade him that he would do better to refuse the inheritance and not marry Mariane. In vain. Tartuffe fobs Cléante off with vague replies, then abruptly leaves. Mariane pleads with her father not to make her marry Tartuffe. She would rather die in a convent, but Orgon stiffens his resolve. So Elmire decides that the only way of opening Orgon’s eyes is to engineer an encounter between herself and Tartuffe, and lead him on in the hope that his true nature will be disclosed to Orgon, hiding under the table. Tartuffe arrives, and he and Elmire begin a negotiation in which she pretends to offer to start an affair with him. Tartuffe, at first mistrustful, slowly relaxes, and asks for immediate proof of Elmire’s good faith. To her objections to adultery on religious grounds, Tartuffe has replies of sickening casuistry. She then threatens to unmask him to her husband, to which Tartuffe responds contemptuously that Orgon can be hoodwinked with the utmost ease. Elmire seems to give in to Tartuffe, and asks him to go out and check that the coast is clear. Orgon emerges from beneath the table, his eyes at last opened. Tartuffe re-enters, and Orgon orders him to leave his house forthwith. Tartuffe points out, however, that, since he is now the owner, the papers having been signed, it is for Orgon and his family to go. But the true position is even worse, for Orgon hints at a further complication, to do with a certain strong-box which should be in his possession.

Act 5 opens with the revelation that the strong-box contains papers belonging to Orgon’s friend Argas, whose sympathies for the Fronde has made him an enemy of the State, and caused him to flee. But, so that he could legitimately say, if questioned, that he did not have the box, Orgon has entrusted it to Tartuffe. This is Tartuffe’s ultimate weapon against Orgon, evidence of treachery. The position for the family is potentially catastrophic. Damis returns, and is reconciled with his father. Madame Pernelle arrives, still convinced that Tartuffe is being wrongly accused. A bailiff, Monsieur Loyal, enters with orders to evict Orgon, his family and their possessions by the morning. He has with him a gang of heavies to make sure that this indeed happens. Madame Pernelle at last sees the truth. Valère runs in to warn Orgon that he is in the gravest danger, as Tartuffe has gone to denounce him to the King. Valère has organised transport, money and a safe house, but too late. Tartuffe arrives with a law officer, ostensibly to arrest Orgon. Tartuffe now is playing the role of loyal subject of the Crown, whose only duty is towards the King. But Louis XIV, the all-seeing Sun King, all along has been watching Tartuffe, who in fact is a notorious confidence trickster. The King has simply been waiting for Tartuffe to make a false move. Thanks to his loyal service during the Fronde, Orgon is pardoned for shielding Argas, and his estate restored to him by royal decree. The law officer leads Tartuffe off to prison. Orgon has had a lucky escape, and learned his lesson. The play ends with his promise that his daughter will be married to Valère, the emblem of sincerity.

Versions of the Play

The first performance of Tartuffe, in a version, now vanished, composed of the first three acts, was given at Versailles before the King (Louis XIV) on 12 May 1664. However, as it was already generally known that the play’s subject had to do with religion and hypocrisy, representations were immediately made to the King by the Archbishop of Paris and the First President of the Parliament to have it banned. Yielding to their pressure, and perhaps in order not to offend his mother, Anne of Austria, who by this time had become devoutly religious, and who also was seriously ill, the King informed Molière that he would not authorise any public performances of the play. Private productions, however, were sanctioned, and a few took place. The play was also read aloud in the presence of an influential church dignitary, who saw in it no matter for offence.

By 1667, Molière judged that circumstances had changed sufficiently to allow him to try again, and, following a conversation with the King, the tone of which did not seem discouraging, Molère put on an altered version of the play. It opened on 5 August 1667, with a new title, The Impostor. The eponymous hypocrite, now clearly portrayed as a man of the world, and with no connection to the Church, was renamed Panulphe. However, Molière had misjudged. Once again, his play was banned, once again on the grounds that the theatre must not be allowed to deal with matters of religion, whatever the author’s intentions, whatever the play’s intrinsic merits. Molière appealed to the King, but was fobbed off with hollow, if sympathetic, words. Ironically, the play was now banned totally. Even private performances were proscribed. Seemingly, the explanation was that, for reasons of diplomatic and political necessity, the King was concerned not to antagonise the Church hierarchy any further.

But, by January 1669, the influence of the religious groups hostile to Molière had waned so rapidly that the ban on Tartuffe became impossible to sustain. Molière now had no effective enemies, and the play, in its present five-act form, opened without protest on 5 February, its original title restored. It ran for several weeks, to much acclaim.

Molière’s own Preface to the play, and the three Placets (petitions, in effect) he wrote to the King between 1664 and 1669, give a good sense of the controversy and of Molière’s deep frustration.

Tartuffe has been in the French repertory ever since 1669, and is one of Molière’s most celebrated and frequently performed plays.

Religious Background to the Play

The absolute monarchy of Louis XIV (who reigned from 1643 to 1715) was indissolubly tied to the Church. A King might be enthroned by divine right, but he had to work with